In progress, please do not read
by Rain Of Dreams
Summary: As a deadly case threatens the city of Miami, Horatio calls upon a surgeon from New York who may just be what he and the team needs. I tried to mix things up by adding a new character. Hope you enjoy my first fanfic.
1. Warm Welcome

_**Chapter 1 - Warm Welcome**_

I would never steal CSI: Miami no matter how much I love it, and I can only wish of owning it.

Yes, its the first chapter, so it may not be the most exciting thing, but I promise it will get better. Please Enjoy.

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I was never used to this kind of atmosphere back in New York. The palm trees, infinite beaches, the ridiculous humidity. Although the downtown streets, full of architectural wonders and busy people, I can recognize. Maybe it was the sweltering heat that I seemed to notice first, but I didn't think at all that Miami would be hard to get used to. I've been here a few times on business meetings and not much has changed. Still the popular place to party, if not get into trouble. 

As the cab driver pointed out buildings and streets to me, I fiddled around with the letter that I had received not too long ago. I constantly read it over and over again, becoming more and more nervous each time. Even though I was pretty confident, I still had trouble relieving my nervousness. The letter was sent to me as a request from a lieutenant that has been close friends with my own boss back at the hospital. I was very much surprised that I was wanted to work for him down in the city of Miami. I didn't know why exactly, the letter didn't explain, but my boss eventually persuaded me to come.

And now, watching all the rotting palm trees fly past my window, all I could do was wait. I had no clue what to expect. But my expectations came too soon.

The cab pulled into a curb and my driver informed me that we reached the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. Thanking him and grabbing my belongings, I hesitantly stepped out into the heat once again. I quickly handed him my fare and looked around. It wasn't to shabby, a huge office and professional looking buildings. I was about to start off to the entrance when I heard a voice to my left.

"Hello, you must be Dr. Millard." said a deep and relaxed voice. I paused, but turned to see a cheery smile at my side.

The man took off his sunglasses and offered his hand to me. I noticed his crystal blue eyes and bronze-colored hair that suited his inviting smile. I shyly smiled myself before accepting and shaking his hand.

"Yes, I am." I nervously replied, keeping my eyes on the man. He placed his hands on his hips casually.

"As you could have probably guessed, I'm Lieutenant Caine," He glanced down at my bags of equipment, "Would you like help with those?"

"No, its okay, Lieutenant." I tried to sound like the bags I carried weren't heavy but in reality they weren't the lighest things in the world.

"You can go ahead and call me Horatio." he explained, leading me down the pathway to the entrance.

"As long as you can call me Laura." I joked, struggling with my bags. Then my theory of easily being able to laugh and balance heavy bags at the same was proven false as I lost my balance and fell flat on my bottom. What a nice way to get to know your new boss, I thought, quietly cursing my clumsiness. I am such a klutz, as always.

"Deal." he chuckled. Horatio helped me up and walked to the doors of the building with a look of concern. "Are you okay there?"

"Fine, thanks. Just have to remember not to wear heels again anytime soon." I sighed as he reached to open the doors. Another smile played on his lips. I walked in as he followed me.

I never had expected it to be so enormous. It was nothing like I had pictured it. Everything looked as if it came straight out of a science-fiction novel. Being one of the most famous crime labs across the country I wasn't very surprised at how it gained such a great reputation. I had always wished to work at a place like this since I was little. Putting the bad guys behind bars, saving the day... And it looked surely well that my dream might come true.

I was so lost in thought that I barely noticed Horatio drift off down a hallway, and so I was left to follow him.

"Wow, this is huge. Nothing like the emergency rooms back in Manhattan." I stated as he had turned down another hallway. The lieutenant nodded in agreement.

"How long have you worked at the hospital?" Horatio questioned, keeping his gaze ahead of him.

"Close to five years. Long enough to know my way around and most of the patients that come in now and then," I started politely, not trying to sound like I missed Manhattan much already."You know Greg, Lieutenant?"

"Dr. Anderson? Of course, good friend of mine. I was talking to him a while back and..." He stopped to turn to me. "I've heard you are _some_ doctor." I sighed, trying my best to hold back a smile.

"That's Greg for ya, bragging about his doctors. I think it's just for the hospital's popularity."

"Or maybe its because its true."

"I guess so, but I'm not _that_ good." I tried to defend myself. But I just happen to be up against a detective, so I knew that I was probably going to lose at an arguement.

"Well, if you weren't any good, I don't think I would have asked your help, now would I?" he objected. "That's the reason I wanted you here. So maybe you could give us a hand with some cases. Would you mind that, Doctor?"

"Of course not, I will help out around here the best I can." I promised.

"Thank you, I'm sure the team will be glad to meet you, then."

We continued, until he at last led me to a room where I was sure I wouldn't be able to find again, and opened the door for me. Inside were three pairs of curious eyes resting on me. I smiled at the three detectives and gladly shook each of their hands.

"Laura, this is Tim Speedle, Calleigh Duquesne, and Eric Delko. Your new team. And," Horatio told me, "welcome to Miami."


	2. On Call

**_Chapter 2 - On Call_**

Hope you like the second chapter. :)

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Lucky for me, I made it past my first day here at the Lab. And I could tell I loved it already. My team, especially Horatio, was very nice and helped me out getting comfortable while I would help them out down here in the beautiful Miami. I had also met Alexx Woods, a very kind person, considering she worked with dead bodies. I had carefully learned my team's names and seemed to become a member of their family pretty easily. Not bad for a clumsy surgeon I suppose. I had unpacked all my heavy bags, made sure I wasn't wearing those stupid heels, and woke up early to get ready for another day. 

I wasn't far into the Lab, sipping my extremely hot coffee, before I was stopped by Speed.

"Hey, Laura, Horatio's lookin' for ya." he informed me. Speed continued past me and I followed, since I hadn't quite knew my way around yet. It wasn't long before we had caught up with Horatio and Eric.

Horatio hurriedly closed his cell phone and looked at the three of us, sighing.

"What's it now, H?" Speed questioned, watching Horatio place his hands at their usual place on his hips.

"We've got a call. Body down at Weston. Let's check it out, Speed. Eric." he nodded to them. "Laura, I'm going to need you too. Grab your kits, guys."

I was sort of confused, but I didn't ask any questions. All I could do was follow the detectives out to the parking lot where I could see two huge grey Hummers. I wasn't surprised they used those monsters to get around. Eric and Speed rushed over to one, while I took a guess to stay with my boss. He lead me to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Horatio handed me a kit from the back and closed the door behind him.

"Are you ready for your first case?" he asked, smiling at my confusion. I handled the kit somewhat uneasily, actually pretty nervous at what to expect.

"I, um, guess so. I'm not going to get shot or stabbed or anything, will I? I mean, no mad murderers running loose?" I tried to say but noticing that my voice was a little shaky. Horatio laughed.

"We'll have to go see, huh?" he said before walking to the driver's car door. Reluctantly, I followed to the passanger's seat and jumped in.

"You'll need this." Horatio unexpectedly threw a heavy, shining object at me from across the seat. I caught it in my hands and examined it. A badge. My lips turned up into a smile and I proudly attached it to my belt.

"Thanks, but if there is, I'm outta there."

All I could hear was his light chuckle before the engine started up and the Hummer pulled out onto the streets of Miami.

>> >>

As the blazing sun hit down hard, I pulled myself out of the Hummer, walking with Horatio over to the taped area not far away. I was relieved not to see any by-standers around but not so relieved as seeing the motionless body laying flat on the ground. Immediately, I could recognize the distinct smell of blood, and noticed a small pool of it near the lifeless victim. I took a deep breath and focused on what I had to do.

"Frank, what have we got?" I could hear Horatio ask as Eric searched the ground around the scene and Speed took pictures. I curiously looked around the place.

It was on a small street, just off a beach where boats slowly drifted back and forth on the calm waters. In the distance was what looked like a small warehouse, but not much else. Strange place for a scene to be.

"Well, paramedics called in about half an hour ago," Frank started. "Name's Fredrick Samson. Uh, thirty-five, no criminal backgrounds as we can tell..."

"Thanks, Frank."

I stepped over the tape and walked slowly over to the body. I bent down and pulled on some gloves that I found in my kit. My early career had gotten me used to bodies, both dead and alive, so I was surprisingly more confident than I thought at this. Carefully, I turned the victim over so I could get a better look at him. There, obvious as daylight, was the cause of murder. A deep stab wound in his middle back. I moved it more, so I could take a closer look. The tremendous loss of blood was most likely the reason he had died. As I collected a small sample from the blood, I started to pick up a scent like garlic. I took another look around, with no onions in sight. Sliding the Q-Tip in an envelope, I ignored the scent and walked over to where Eric was studying the ground.

After examining the body, Eric pointed out a small trail of blood leading to the victim and collected a small sample.

"Laura, what does it look like?" Horatio asked, walking over to me from a police officer, removing his glasses.

"The guy was stabbed. Deep entry wound in his back, probably the loss of blood from there," I indicated to the start of the trail of blood that Eric found and pointed to the pool of blood. "to here. Could have been a struggle over there. The trail gets uneven, and the drops of blood are larger, but he was stopped at this spot for sure." I explained, taking off my gloves.

"H, I got samples, but no murder weapon." Speed called, carrying some packets and his kit.

"Eric. Speed. I need you two to take the samples back at the Lab. Keep me posted."

"Right." They nodded and walked off to their Hummer.

"Laura, looks like we got ourselves a murder on our hands."


	3. Only Half The Battle

**_Chapter 3 - Only Half The Battle_**

Yay, the third chapter. x3 Please enjoy.

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The clock ticked away as I checked my sample of the blood from the scene for the fifth time. No matter the magnification I used or the position I had it, it didn't change, so I gave up. And now I knew I made a mistake. Forget my years of hard work in college, I felt so stupid. I took a guess at his death as being stabbed, which would probably be noticed first, but his blood wasn't normal. I didn't know what it was, but there was something wrong. Probably very wrong. 

Just as I was about to remove the slide, I heard the footsteps of Horatio enter the room. He strolled behind the counter I was currently working on, and took a good look at what I was doing. I sighed disappointedly.

"The blood from Mr. Samson?" he finally asked. I stepped away from the microsope and pulled down my goggles.

"Yeah, but, um, there's something else too." I mumbled, still annoyed at my obliviousness. "I'm not sure, take a look." I pointed.

"Hm." he walked over and put his eye up to the lens, adjusting the focus before looking back at me. "Yes...there is definitely something else." I shook my head, still a little frustrated.

"I can't believe I missed this. It had to be obvious, right?"

"I'm not so sure. We should check up with Alexx, maybe she's found something."

"Okay."

I watched Alexx working on the body carefully. I was starting to get impatient as she searched.

"Entrance wound to the rib cage from the back...possible hemmorage..." Alexx said, looking up at Horatio.

"So, that's what killed him."

"Actually, it might not be. By the looks of it, there seems to be a history of organ failure," Alexx looked down at the body's expressionless face. "It was just too soon for you, wasn't it, baby?"

"Organ failure..." Horatio repeated aloud. I thought hard as I tried to let all the clues to his death soak in my brain. It was still so blurry to me. So he was both stabbed and lost the use of his organs? Did the object he was stabbed with cause them to stop working? Or was it something else?

"I don't know yet, Horatio. Should we go back and pick up more evidence?" I suggested.

"No...there was nothing else to get, we saw it all. Frank is over there, and he said its pretty much cleared out-" Horatio's cell phone suddenly rang, piercing the quiet in the room. "Excuse me...uh huh, yes, thank you." Click. He turned to the medical examiner.

"Thanks Alexx, keep me posted, okay? I'm going to talk to Speed. Laura." My boss spoke, exiting the room quickly and entering the lab that Speed was working at. I silently followed, continuing to think.

"What did you find, Speed?" Speed handed Horatio a sheet of paper and crossed his arms. I looked over his shoulder to take a look. What I saw really surprised me. So the smell of garlic and the strange components in the blood made sense to me. Of course it couldn't have been very obvious until now.

"Arsenic." I stated, very much surprised. Speed nodded, holding up a small vile of something tiny.

"I found traces of it in the victim's hair follicles."

"Then it had to be in his bloodstream. Doesn't it end of remaining in the hair for years?" I asked Speed, finally putting together the pieces of the case.

"Yeah, but its only been in there just recently, he would have died a while ago."

"Is that what that garlicy smell was? Arsenic?" I questioned after thinking about it.

"Well, arsenic trioxide. It has a garlic-like smell when exposed to heat. Probably from the sun, I'm guessing."

"Do you think arsenic is what killed him?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Poisoning like this takes awhile...having the arsenic in his blood didn't help much, but I think it was sooner than that." Speed explained, taking off his gloves and wiping his forehead. "That stab in his back could have ended it for 'em."

Horatio put down the paper and gazed out the window in deep thought. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to us.

I could see a strong look of curiousity in his eyes. Those eyes were so blue and deep, it seemed as if when he looked at you, he could see right through you. There was something about them...

"Good work, Speed. You too, Laura." I smiled, feeling a little relieved for my work.

"So what now, H?" Speed asked him, walking up next to me to face Horatio.

"We're going to pay that warehouse a visit."

To Be Continued...


End file.
